07 May 2006

Developing the Quilt Design for "Meditation"

I´ve been thinking about the quilting design for the "Meditation" quilt for a few days now. First I wanted to do a leave-allover design, but Irises don´t have leaves that would work for such a design. So I started searching for images of irises on Google and found some very good and helpful ones. I did some sketches and the blossoms are easy to do, but the leaves. I didn´t get them. And I wasn´t able to see what was wrong. So I went into our garden and set down in front of some Irises. Unfortunately they don´t bloom yet, but the leaves are there already and finally I think I understood the shape. So here are the sketches which will lead to the quilting design. First sketch with strange looking leaves on the left:This one is better, but still it feels wrong:This is made in the garden with live Irises and I think the sketch is much better:And this is the first sketch for the overall quilt design for the top:I never quilted a quilt this size with a free motion design like this. I would like to do it free motion without marking it. Am I crazy? Cause the quilt is fused it is impossible to undo the quilting. Scary...... But what´s life without a challenge now and then ;-)

Reactions:

2 comments:

Karin, Go for it! I love your sketches and think the quilting will be great. Have you thought of using a solid color backing for your quilt? Then you could see your quilting as a whole-cloth design on the reverse. Love your leaves...reminds me of my "lily of the nile" quilt I'm getting ready to start - I've had it sketched for a year and am ready to go. It's going to be a whopping 60"x48"!